Look up lynn in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Lynn commonly refers to:

• Lynn (name), a given name
• Lynn (surname), a surname

Lynn may also refer to

Places[link]

United States

• Lynn, Alabama
• Lynn, Arkansas
• Lynn, California
• Lynn, Indiana
• Lynn, Massachusetts
  • Lynn (MBTA station)
• Lynn, Pennsylvania (disambiguation)
• East Lynn, West Virginia
• Lynn, Wisconsin, a town
  • Lynn (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
• Lynn Canal, inlet in Alaska
• Lynn County, Texas

Canada

• Lynn Lake, Manitoba
• Lynn, Nova Scotia
• Lynn River (Ontario)
• Lynn Valley, neighborhood of North Vancouver, British Columbia

United Kingdom

• Lynn in Staffordshire
• Lynn in Shropshire
• King's Lynn, Norfolk, England
  • South Lynn, the Southern area of King's Lynn
  • West Lynn, Norfolk, the Western area of King's Lynn

New Zealand

• Grey Lynn, New Zealand
• New Lynn, New Zealand

Other uses[link]

• Lynn News, a local newspaper for King's Lynn, Norfolk, England

See also[link]

• Lyn
• Lynne
• All pages beginning with "Lynn"
• All pages with titles containing "Lynn"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Lynn Anderson
Background information
Birth name	Lynn Rene Anderson
Also known as	The Great Lady of Country Music
Born	(1947-09-26) September 26, 1947 (age 64)
Origin	Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA
Genres	Country Pop
Occupations	Singer, Equestrian
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Chart Columbia Permian MCA Mercury
Associated acts	Liz Anderson, Glenn Sutton, Mentor Williams, Jerry Lane, Ed Bruce, Gary Morris
Website	The Lynn Anderson Show

Lynn Rene Anderson (born September 26, 1947) is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most popular and successful female country singers of the 1970s.^[1] In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music twice and "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association, she has charted 11 #1, 18 Top 10, and more than 50 Top 40 hits. She was the first female country artist to win an American Music Award in 1974, as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year. Anderson was named Billboard Magazine's Female Artist of the Decade (1970–1980).^[2]

Anderson debuted in 1966, at the age of 19, and had her first major hit with Ride, Ride, Ride. After a series of Top 10 hit singles on the country charts during the late 1960s, Anderson went on to sign with Columbia Records in 1970. Under Columbia, she had her most successful string of hits. Her signature song, (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden, remains one of the biggest selling country crossover hits of all time. The song even made it to #3 on the Billboard Pop Chart and was later ranked #83 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music History."

Early life[link]

Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and raised in Fair Oaks, California.^[3] She is the daughter of country music songwriters Casey and Liz Anderson.^[1] Lynn Anderson's grandfather was born in Aremark, Norway. ^[4]

Anderson became interested in singing at the young age of six, but she had her first success in the horse show arena in and around California, where she would eventually win a total of 700 trophies,^[5] including the "California Horse Show Queen" title in 1966. Into her teens, she performed regularly on the local television program Country Caravan.^[3]

In 1965, she was working as a secretary at Top 40 radio station, KROY in Sacramento, California, when one of her mother's compositions, "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" was recorded and became a #10 country hit by Merle Haggard.^[3] Her mother would sign as a country music recording artist with RCA Records that same year.^[1] While accompanying her mother to Nashville, Anderson participated in an informal sing-along at a local hotel room with country stars Merle Haggard and Freddie Hart. One of the people present at the sing-along, Slim Williamson, owned Chart Records, a local record label. Williamson recognized Lynn Anderson's talent and invited her to record for his label. She began recording on Chart Records in 1966.^[3]

Music career[link]

1966 – 1969: Country music success[link]

In 1966, Lynn Anderson released her debut single, "For Better or for Worse," a duet with Jerry Lane which did not chart. Her first charting single and her third release on the Chart Label, "Ride, Ride, Ride," hit the Country Top 40.^[5] She had her first major hit single, "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)", the following year. It peaked at #5 on the Billboard country chart. It was followed by another Top 5 hit, "Promises, Promises,"^[1] from an album of the same name, which would also spawn a second Top 10 hit, "No Another Time", in 1968. Then she released "Mother May I", a Top 25 duet that she recorded with her mother. (The elder Anderson also achieved success as a country artist around the same time, achieving two Top 10 hits---"Mama Spank" (1966) and a trio with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean, "The Game of Triangles" (1967).)

In 1967, Lynn Anderson became a regular performer on The Lawrence Welk Show.^[3] She toured with the Welk Road Show as well. Her appearances on the show would later redound to her benefit. Because of the Welk show's widespread appeal, she was able to achieve success on the pop charts. In 1969, as her popularity grew, she left the Welk show in favor of sporadic guest appearances.^[3] In 1968, Anderson married songwriter and producer Glenn Sutton, who would later produce and write many of her records during her tenure with Columbia. Their marriage would last for approximately nine years.^[5] Anderson released her biggest hit single under the Chart label, "That's a No No",^[1] which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Country Chart in 1969. Soon after, she left the label, signing with Columbia Records in 1970.^[5] Chart Records would continue to release Lynn Anderson singles thru the end of 1971, including five Top 20 hits: "He'd Still Love Me", "I've Been Everywhere", "Rocky Top", "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", and "I'm Alright."^{[citation needed]}

1970 – 1980: Pop crossover[link]

After signing with Columbia in 1970, Anderson released the Joe South song, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden," which became a major crossover pop hit in 1970 and early 1971.^[1] The song was produced by her husband Glenn Sutton. Anderson actually had to do some arm-twisting to get her producer husband to record the song, and Sutton eventually gave in. It was not until Columbia record executive Clive Davis heard the song that it was released as a single.^[6] The single peaked at #1 on the Billboard country chart and also peaked at #3 on the Billboard pop chart. It would go on to become her signature song.^[1] The song was Anderson's biggest international success. In the United Kingdom, the single reached #3^[7] and in Germany it peaked at #1 and stayed there for four weeks.^[8] The album, Rose Garden was released in 1971, and was also hugely successful, receiving platinum certification by the RIAA.^[9] Anderson won the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" Award and the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" Award in 1970 and 1971. In addition, she won a Grammy Award.^[10]

Lynn Anderson had two #1 hit singles on the Billboard country chart in 1971 with "You're My Man" and "How Can I Unlove You",^[1] both peaking at #63 on the Billboard pop chart. In 1972, Anderson had three Top 5 hits on the country charts, beginning with a cover version of the 50s pop hit, "Cry", followed by "Listen to a Country Song" and "Fool Me".^[5] These songs were included on the Listen to a Country Song album. "Cry" peaked at #3 on the Billboard magazine country chart and at #16 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In 1973, she had a fourth #1 country hit with "Keep Me in Mind," and an album of the same name was released. Then followed a second 1973 album, Top of the World, whose title track was a #1 country hit. It was also a #1 pop hit for The Carpenters that same year. Anderson's version, however, was the first to be released as a single and become a hit. The second single released from the Top of the World album, "Sing About Love", also peaked at #3. In 1974, "What a Man My Man is" was Anderson's eighth #1 country hit. That same year, she also won the American Music Awards' "Favorite Female Country Artist" Award.

Throughout the 1970s, Anderson made frequent guest appearances on many television specials, talk shows and variety shows. Because of her crossover appeal, she often appeared on shows on which country artists were not regularly seen. At the height of the show's popularity, she had a starring role in an episode of Starsky & Hutch. She made several appearances on The Tonight Show, and appeared on three Bob Hope television specials. Anderson frequently guest-starred on various Dean Martin television specials. She also hosted her own television special in 1977, with guest star Tina Turner.^[11]

Anderson's success slowed down toward the end of the '70s.^[10] She continued making appearances on the country charts every year for the rest of the decade.^[1] Anderson hit the Top 20 with two from her I've Never Loved Anyone More album in 1975: "He Turns it into Love Again" and the title track. She had a Top 20 hit with "All the King's Horses" in 1976 from an album of the same name. In 1977, "Wrap Your Love All Around Your Man", due to its promotion on the television show Starsky & Hutch, became a major hit. In 1979, she had her first Top 10 hit since 1974 with "Isn't It Always Love" ^[1] from her Outlaw is Just a State of Mind album. The album also produced the Top 20 hit, "I Love How You Love Me" and the Top 40 hit "Sea of Heartbreak". In 1980, she recorded her final album for Columbia, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which featured two Top 30 hits. Following her separation from Columbia she did not record for three years.

1983 – 1989: Commercial resurgence[link]

After three years away from recording, Anderson signed with the Permian Records label in 1983, and had a Top 10 country hit with "You're Welcome to Tonight", a duet with Gary Morris ^[5] At Permian she recorded Back, her first studio album since 1980. The album's first single, "You Can't Lose What You Never Had", peaked outside the Top 40, but the second single, "What I've Learned from Loving You", was a Top 20 hit. She left Permian in 1984. In 1986, she recorded "Fools for Each Other", a duet with Ed Bruce, which was included on his Night Things album. The single peaked just outside the Top 40.

That same year, Anderson recorded a single for MCA Records. In 1986, she signed with Mercury Records, which produced one album, What She Does Best, and five singles that were minor hits on the Billboard country chart in the late 1980s.^[5] She had two Top 40 hit singles with MCA---"Read Between the Lines" and a cover version of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk", which hit Top 25 country in 1988. In 1989, Anderson released her last charting single to date with "How Many Hearts", which peaked at #69.

1990 – Present: Present music career[link]

In 1990, Anderson starred as singer Betsy Hall in the BBC Scotland TV drama, "The Wreck On The Highway." She performed the song "Dream On" in the film, which consequently became a minor hit in a BBC collection of country standards. In 1992, she recorded a new studio album titled Cowboy's Sweetheart, released by Laselight Records.^[10] Emmylou Harris and Marty Stuart appeared as guest performers on the album.^[11] During the same time, the American Rose Society created a hybrid tea rose and named it "The Lynn Anderson" ^[2] Anderson did not record any studio albums for the rest of the decade and became more focused on touring and performing, as well as non-musical projects. In 1999, she was inducted into the North American Country Music Association's International Hall of Fame.^[12]

In 2000, Tennessee governor Don Sundquist made June 15 "Lynn Anderson Day" throughout the state. Anderson produced a TNN special, "American Country Cowboys," which helped handicapped groups also during this time.^[2] In 2002, Anderson was ranked at #29 on CMT's television special of the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. In 2000, she recorded a live album titled, Live at Billy Bob's Texas.^[1] In 2004, she recorded her first studio album in 12 years, The Bluegrass Sessions, a Bluegrass album that consisted of Anderson's major hits from the 60s and 70s re-recorded in a Bluegrass format.^[5] The album was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2005, along with Ricky Skaggs' album Brand New Strings, Ralph Stanley II's Carrying on, as well as a multi-artist album.^[13] In 2005, she performed on the Grand Ole Opry with Country singer, Martina McBride, performing a duet version of "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden".

In June 2007, she performed as part of the CMA's 2007 Music Festival in Nashville. She performed an outdoor concert at the Riverfront Park area, which also included concerts by Aaron Tippin and Jason Michael Carroll.^[14] At the festival, Anderson duetted with songwriter and fiance Mentor Williams on his composition recorded by Dobie Gray and later Uncle Kracker, "Drift Away".

In April 2009, she was part of the concert line-up at the annual Stagecoach Festival in Palm Springs, which also included concerts by Charlie Daniels, Kevin Costner, and Reba McEntire. Throughout 2010 and 2011, she performed a series of concerts backed by the Metropole Symphony Orchestra. Lynn Anderson remains a popular concert attraction, regularly headlining major casinos and performing arts centers.

Equestrian career[link]

Outside of her music career, Anderson has also maintained an equestrian horse racing career since the 1960s. As a horsewoman, she has won 16 national, eight world, and several celebrity championships.^[2]

Her most recent championships include the National Chevy Truck Cutting Horse Champion in 1999, the American U.S. Open Invitational Champion in 2000,and the National Cutting Horse Association Champion in 1999.^[2] Anderson continues to raise horses at her ranch in New Mexico. Anderson has worked with the "Special Riders of Animaland," which is a horseback-riding therapy program for children.^[2]

Her sorrel Quarter Horses "Lady Phase" and "Skipster's Chief" were produced as plastic models by Breyer Animal Creations.

Personal life[link]

Lynn Anderson was married to country music producer Glen Sutton from 1968 to 1977. Anderson and Sutton had one child together. Her second husband was the Louisiana oilman, Harold Stream III, with whom she had two children. Stream and Anderson divorced in 1982.

On December 2, 2004, Anderson was charged with driving while intoxicated in Denton, Texas. A driver who was following Anderson called the police after noticing that her car was weaving in and out of lanes. After failing a field sobriety test, Anderson was arrested and taken to jail. She was later released on bond.^[15]

On May 3, 2006, Anderson was arrested on a second driving under the influence of alcohol charge following a minor traffic accident near Espanola, New Mexico. According to police, Anderson failed a sobriety test and refused to take a breathalyzer test after her car hit the back of another car. No one was injured in the collision. Anderson was later released on bond.^[16]

Anderson currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

Major industry awards and honors[link]

Discography[link]

References[link]

Source[link]

• Bufwack, Mary A. (1998). "Lynn Anderson". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury (editor); New York: Oxford University Press, page 14.

External links[link]

• Official website

Dame Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn at the War and Peace Show, in July 2009
Background information
Birth name	Vera Margaret Welch
Born	(1917-03-20) 20 March 1917 (age 95) London (East Ham), England
Genres	Traditional pop
Years active	1935–present
Labels	UK Decca/London, HMV

Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917) ^[1] is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II.

During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. She became known, and is still referred to, as "The Forces' Sweetheart"; the songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again", "The White Cliffs of Dover", A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and "There'll Always Be an England".

She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the UK and the United States and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" and "My Son, My Son".

In 2009 she became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 on the British album chart, at the age of 92.^[2] She has devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children and breast cancer. She is still held in great affection by veterans of the Second World War and in 2000 was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the twentieth century.^[3]

Early life[link]

Vera Lynn was born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917 in East Ham, in what was then the county of Essex, now East London. When she began performing publicly at the age of seven, she adopted her grandmother's maiden name (Lynn) as her stage name.^[4] Her first radio broadcast, with the Joe Loss Orchestra, was in 1935. At this point she was being featured on records released by dance bands including those of Loss and of Charlie Kunz.^[5] In 1936 her first solo record was released on the Crown label, "Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire".^[6] This label was absorbed by Decca Records in 1938.^[7] After a short stint with Loss she stayed with Kunz for a few years during which she recorded several standard musical pieces. In 1937, she moved to the aristocrat of British dance bands, Bert Ambrose.^[8]

In 1939, during the Phoney War, the Daily Express asked British servicemen to name their favourite musical performers: Vera Lynn came out on top and as a result became known as 'the Forces' Sweetheart'.^[9]

In 1941, during the darkest days of World War II, Lynn began her own radio programme, Sincerely Yours, sending messages to British troops serving abroad.^[5] She and her quartet performed songs most requested by the soldiers. Lynn also visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas.^[10]

She is best known for her 1942 recording of the popular song "We'll Meet Again", written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles; the nostalgic lyrics ("We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day") were very popular during the war and made the song one of its emblematic hits. She also appeared in the 1943 film of that name.^[11] Her other great wartime hit was "The White Cliffs of Dover", words by Nat Burton, music by Walter Kent.^[12] Contrary to later reports, she neither sang nor recorded "Rose of England" during this time and it was only in 1966 when her producer, David Gooch, selected it for her album More Hits of the Blitz that she became familiar with it. The album itself was a follow-up to Hits of the Blitz produced by Norman Newell.

During the war years she joined ENSA and toured Egypt, India and Burma,^[13] giving outdoor concerts for the troops. In 1985 it was announced that she would receive the Burma Star for entertaining British guerrilla units in Japanese-occupied Burma.^[14] She is one of the last surviving major entertainers of the war years.

Post-war career[link]

Vera Lynn in 1973

Lynn's Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart became the first record by a British performer to top the charts in the United States,^[15] remaining there for nine weeks. She also appeared regularly for a time on Tallulah Bankhead's U.S. radio programme, The Big Show.^[16] "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", along with "The Homing Waltz" and "Forget-Me-Not", gave Lynn a remarkable three entries on the first UK Singles Chart, a top 12 (which actually contained 15 songs owing to tied positions).

Her popularity continued in the 1950s, peaking with "My Son, My Son", a number-one hit in 1954^[17] which she co-wrote with Gordon Melville Rees. In 1960 she left Decca Records after nearly 25 years, and joined EMI.^[18] She recorded for EMI's Columbia, MGM and HMV labels. In 1967, she recorded "It Hurts To Say Goodbye",^[19] a song which hit the top 10 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart."

Vera Lynn was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions, in October 1957 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, and in December 1978, for an episode which was broadcast on 1 January 1979,^[20] when Andrews surprised her at the Cafe Royal, London.

She hosted her own variety series on BBC1 in the late 1960s and early 1970s^[21] and was a frequent guest on other variety shows, notably The 1972 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show. In 1972 she was a key performer in the BBC anniversary programme Fifty Years Of Music. In 1976 she hosted the BBC's A Jubilee Of Music, celebrating the pop music hits of the period 1952-1976 to commemorate the start of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee year. For ITV she presented a 1977 TV special to launch her album Vera Lynn in Nashville, which included pop songs of the 1960s and country songs.^[22]

The Royal Variety Performance included appearances by Vera Lynn on three occasions: 1960, 1975 and 1986.^[23]

Lynn is also notable for being the only artist to have a chart span on the British single and album charts reaching from the chart's inception to the 21st century — in 1952 having three singles in the first ever singles chart, complied by New Musical Express,^[24] and most recently having a #1 album with We'll Meet Again — The Very Best Of Vera Lynn^[25] (see below).

Honours[link]

Lynn was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire in 1969, and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1975.^[5] She was made an Officer of the Order of St John (OStJ) in 1998 and, in 2000, Dame Vera received a special "Spirit of the 20th Century" Award.^[9]

Charity work[link]

In 1953 Lynn formed the cerebral palsy charity SOS (The Stars Organisation for Spastics)^[26][27] and became its chairperson.

The Vera Lynn Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust was founded in 1976, with Lynn its chairperson and later its president.^[28]

In 2002 Lynn became president of the cerebral palsy charity The Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy, and hosted a celebrity concert on its behalf at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.^[29]

On 19 August 2008 Lynn became the Patron of the Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL,^[30] a charitable not-for-profit organisation which helps those affected by war.

On 16 November 2010 Dame Vera Lynn became Patron of The Dover War Memorial Project,^[31] a voluntary not-for-profit group remembering the Fallen from Dover, Kent, England.

Later years[link]

Lynn sang outside Buckingham Palace in 1995 in a ceremony that marked the golden jubilee of VE Day. This was her last known public performance.^[32]

The United Kingdom's VE Day Diamond Jubilee ceremonies in 2005 included a concert in Trafalgar Square, London, in which Lynn made an unannounced appearance.^[32] She made a speech praising the veterans and calling upon the younger generation always to remember their sacrifice and joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again". Following that year's Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, Dame Vera encouraged the Welsh mezzo-soprano singer Katherine Jenkins to assume the mantle of "Forces' Sweetheart".^[33]

In her speech Lynn said, "These boys gave their lives and some came home badly injured, and for some families life would never be the same. We should always remember, we should never forget, and we should teach the children to remember."

In September 2008 Lynn helped launch a new social history recording website, "The Times of My Life", at the Cabinet War Rooms in London.^[34]

On 3 September 2009 Andrew Castle hosted Lynn on GMTV to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Britain's declaring war on Germany. At the end of the interview she sang a verse from "We'll Meet Again," at Castle's request.

Her autobiography Some Sunny Day was published in August 2009, when Lynn was 92. She had written two previous memoirs: Vocal Refrain (1975) and We'll Meet Again (1989).^[35]

On 18 February 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that Lynn was suing the British National Party (BNP) for using "the White Cliffs of Dover" on an anti-immigration album without her permission. Her lawyer claimed the album seemed to link Lynn, who does not align with any political party, to the party's views by association.^[36]

On 13 September 2009 Lynn became the oldest living artist to make it into No. 1 in the British album chart, at the age of 92,^[37] passing such veterans of music as American jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and French singer Charles Aznavour. Her collection We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn entered the chart at number 20 on 30 August, and then climbed to number 2 the following week, before reaching the top position,^[38] outselling both the Arctic Monkeys and the Beatles.^[39] In its third week the album went gold with sales of over 100,000.

Personal life[link]

In 1941 Lynn married Harry Lewis, a clarinetist and saxophonist,^[42] whom she had met two years earlier. They had one child, Virginia Penelope Anne Lewis.^[9] Harry Lewis died in 1999.^[43]

Lynn has lived in Ditchling in Sussex since the early 1960s.^[44]

Recording career[link]

Vera Lynn made her solo recording debut with the song "Up The Wooden Hill To Bedfordshire" in February 1936. The 9" 78rpm single was issued on the Crown Records label,^[45] which went on to release a total of 8 singles recorded by Vera Lynn and Charles Smart on organ. Early recordings include "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "Red Sails in the Sunset".

In 1938 the Decca label took over control of the British Crown label and the UK based Rex label, they had also issued early singles from Lynn in 1937, including "Harbour Lights". In late September 1939 Vera Lynn first recorded a song that continues to be associated with her, the song "We'll Meet Again was originally recorded with Arthur Young on the Novachord. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the Decca label issued all of Vera Lynn's records, including several recorded with Mantovani and His Orchestra in 1942 and with Robert Farnon, from the late 1940s. Firstly they were only available as 78rpm singles, which only feature two songs an A and a B-side. In the mid 1950s Decca issued several EP singles, which featured between two and four recordings per side, such as Vera Lynn's Party Sing Song from 1954 and singles were issued on two formats the known 78prm 10" and the recently introduced 45rpm 7" single. In the late 1950s Lynn recorded four albums at Decca, the first; Vera Lynn Concert remains her only live recording ever to be issued on vinyl.

In 1960, after more than 20 years at Decca Records, Lynn signed to the US based MGM Records, in the UK her recordings were distributed by the His Masters Voice label, later EMI Records, several albums and stand alone singles were recorded with Geoff Love & His Orchestra, Norman Newell also took over as Lynn's producer in this period and remained with her until her 1976 Christmas with Vera Lynn. Recording at EMI Records up until 1977, Lynn released thirteen albums with material as diverse as traditional Hymns, pop and country songs, as well as re-recording many of her known songs from the 1940s for the albums Hits of the Blitz (1966), More Hits of the Blitz and Vera Lynn Remembers - The World at War (1974). In the 1980s two albums of contemporary pop songs were recorded at the Pye Records label, both included covers of songs previously recorded by such artists as Abba and Barry Manilow.

In 1982 a stand alone single "I Love This Land" (Falklands War song) was issued and in 1984 Horatio Nelson Records issued Vera Lynn's last recordings made before her retirement. The album Vera Lynn Remembers, produced by Harry Lewis, Lynn's husband, features 17 re-recordings of songs known and associated with Vera Lynn over her 50 year recording career.

Discography[link]

Original albums[link]

Charted albums[link]

Charted singles[link]

Films[link]

• We'll Meet Again (1943)
• Rhythm Serenade (1943)
• One Exciting Night (1944)
• Venus fra Vestø (1962)

In popular culture[link]

• Both Lynn and "We'll Meet Again" are featured in Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall. They are directly cited in the track "Vera". In the live version of The Wall, Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall Live 1980–1981, "We'll Meet Again" opens the concert before the show starts. It serves as a link between band member Roger Waters and his father, who was killed during World War II. The film The Wall begins with Lynn singing "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot".
• Lynn and the words "We'll meet again some day" are mentioned in The Kinks' song "Mr. Churchill Says".
• The final scene of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove features "We'll Meet Again" playing as many nuclear explosions are set off.
• One of the episodes of the TV documentary series The World at War is named after one of Lynn's songs "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow", which dealt with the Burma Campaign. Ms. Lynn herself reminisced visiting the British troops in Burma, and a snippet of the song is included amidst the struggles of the British Forces in dealing with the mud and the monsoon.
• In Gary Numan's song "War Songs", there is a line that reads "Old men love war songs, I'm Vera Lynn".
• In the British campaign of Call of Duty 3, there are two SAS Jeeps. One is named "Vera", and the other is named "Lynn".
• Scottish band Travis have a song called "U16 Girls" with the following line: "I met a girl in Paris, she talked like Vera Lynn."
• During a Street Talk segment on The AFL Footy Show in 2009, an elderly Englishman claiming to be Vera Lynn's brother appeared before Sam Newman on the streets of St Kilda. Although there was no way to prove his claim, it was expected to be true because of his striking physical resemblance as well as his knowledge of her songs.
• The DC Comics character Vera Lynn Black is named after her.
• In the movie Hellboy, during Professor Broom's confrontation with Rasputin, a recording of Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" plays in the background (according to the closed-captioning).
• The name Vera Lynn is cockney rhyming slang for "skin", a cigarette paper used for roll-ups. This was immortalised in the song "Ebeneezer Goode" by the Shamen with the line "Anyone got any Veras? Lovely!" It is also slang for "bin".
• The punk band the Sex Pistols are noted for coming onstage to the Lynn version of the song "There'll Always Be an England". It is also the name of their only live DVD.
• English rock band The Libertines used Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again" as their walk-on music during their 2010 reunion concerts.
• Lynn is the subject of "The Yip! Song" by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians.
• Lynn is mentioned among several memories of the Second World War in the graphic novel When the Wind Blows and the animated film adaptation.
• In an episode of 'Allo 'Allo, Herr Flick bugs General von Klinkerhoffen's golf bag. When trying to pick up what the General is saying, Lynn's "White Cliffs of Dover" is heard, leaving Herr Flick to remark, That damn woman, she gets everywhere.
• "We'll Meet Again" is played at the close of The Singing Detective.
• The character of Lynn Minmay in the anime series Super Dimension Fortress Macross is based on Vera Lynn.
• In the Futurama episode "A Big Piece of Garbage" Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again" is sung over the closing credits.
• In the 1984 film The Hit, "We'll Meet Again" is sung by the gangsters on trial to witness Terence Stamp as he leaves the courtroom. It serves as a way of telling Stamp's character that he is a marked man for testifying against his friends.

Publications[link]

• Lynn, Vera (1975). Vocal Refrain. London: W.H. Allen
• Lynn, Vera and Cross, Robin (1989). We'll Meet Again. London: Sidgwick & Jackson
• Lynn, Vera (2009). Some Sunny Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-731815-5

References[link]

External links[link]

• Debrett's People of Today
• Q&A with TIME Magazine in September 2009
• Vera Lynn at the Internet Movie Database
• 2002 BBC article
• 2009 article in The Guardian (1)
• Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy
• Dame Vera Lynn March 2010 interview
• One-hour radio programme on France Culture in June 2007 (listen)
• Vera Lynn Biography
• The Discography of Vera Lynn at Discogs.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008)

Lynda Cheryl Smith (born March 11, 1957), known better by her professional name Cheryl Lynn, is a female African-American disco, R&B and soul singer known best for her 1978 disco song, "Got to Be Real".

Biography[link]

Early career[link]

Lynn's singing career began when she was a young girl with her church choir. However, her professional singing career started during 1976 when she obtained a job as a backing vocalist for the national touring company of the musical drama The Wiz. Eventually she would obtain the role of Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, during the six month national tour.

Prior to her appearance on The Wiz, Cheryl taped an episode of the Gong Show during the early part of 1976. She won the competition while singing Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful". After the episode was broadcast, during the autumn of 1976, record industry executives were calling to contract her.

Success and later career[link]

After her performance on The Gong Show, Ahmed Ertegun of Atlantic Records company couldn't come to an initial meeting with Lynn, with the result that she was contracted with Columbia Records company. Lynn released her first and best-known song, "Got to Be Real," which was composed by keyboardist David Paich (of the band Toto), David Foster and Lynn. The song scored #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart and #1 on the Rhythm & Blues chart. The success of the single album prompted a full scale debut album. Named Cheryl Lynn, it was produced by Paich. The album sold more than a million copies and scored #5 on Billboard magazine's R&B albums chart and #23 on Billboard's top 200 album charts. The next single album, "Star Love"', also became a success.

During this time, members of the rock music group Toto were producing their debut album. During the production Lynn was asked to provided the female backing vocal for the single album, "Georgy Porgy,". The single scored #48 on Billboard's popular music charts. Although Toto would go on to chart more than a dozen popular music successes throughout the years, it was Lynn's vocal for "Georgy Porgy" that aided the group in charting their only R&B (#18) and Dance (#80) on the Billboard charts.

During 1981, Ray Parker, Jr. produced "Shake It Up Tonight", a major dance & R&B success from Lynn's third album, In the Night. The next year, Luther Vandross was asked to produced Lynn's fourth album, Instant Love. The 2nd single from the album, "If This World Were Mine" - a 1982 duet with Luther Vandross that cover-versioned a Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell song, has become a classic. For her fifth album, Preppie, Lynn produced most of the tracks with the exception of the single "Encore" (#1 R&B ) - which was written and produced by the Minneapolis funk music duo, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. It became Lynn's second #1 single . During 1989, Lynn released the top 10 single, "Every Time I Try To Say Goodbye", from her eighth album, Whatever It Takes.

The 1990s[link]

Lynn began the 1990s without a record contract. She did mostly session work for Richard Marx albums, Rush Street and Paid Vacation as well as Luther Vandross' Your Secret Love album. But during 1995, after a six year hiatus from recording her own material, Lynn teamed with producer/songwriter Teddy Riley, (formerly of the New Jack Swing music group Guy), to record her Ninth album, Good Time. It was released in Japan, the United Kingdom and later in the United States as an imported CD and featured the nightclub favorite single album "Guarantee For My Heart". During 1996, Sony Records/Legacy released Got to Be Real – The Best Of Cheryl Lynn, which included Lynn's most successful recordings from her years with Columbia Records. This was followed soon by another compilation CD named, The Real Thing, which featured other recordings from Lynn's first six albums. Two years later she performed on HBO's Sinbad's Summer Soul Jam 4 (1998), hosted by comedian Sinbad.

2000 to present[link]

During the new millennium Lynn toured Japan and did an occasional gig in the U.S., performing at charity events in her hometown of Los Angeles. During 2000 she worked with hip-hop musician J Supreme on his single "Your Love (Encore)", which was an update of her #1 1984 song "Encore." She performed on ABC's The Disco Ball...A 30-Year Celebration, which was broadcast during January 2003. During 2004 she recorded the song "Sweet Kind of Life," which was also written and produced by Jam & Lewis, for the animated film and soundtrack to Shark Tale.

On September 19, 2005, Lynn's song "Got to Be Real" was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. On May 23, 2006 Collectables Record Label re-released her 1981 album In The Night and 1982's Instant Love, in twin CD package form. It was the first time ever that either album was released as a CD in the U.S.

Lynn is considered an influence on some of today's R&B female singers, including Mary J. Blige, who, along with Will Smith, covered Lynn's song ("Got to Be Real"), also for the soundtrack of the animated movie Shark Tale.^{[citation needed]} Japanese popular music singer Kumi Koda cover-versioned the song for her July 2010 single album "Gossip Candy" as well.

On 11 April 2010, "Got to Be Real" charted for the first time in the UK, peaking at number 70.^[1][2]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1978: Cheryl Lynn (Columbia) - US Pop #23, US R&B #5
• 1979: In Love (Columbia) - US Pop #167, US R&B #47
• 1981: In the Night (Columbia) - US Pop #104, US R&B #14
• 1982: Instant Love (Columbia) - US Pop #133, US R&B #7
• 1983: Preppie (Columbia) - US Pop #161, US R&B #8
• 1985: It's Gonna Be Right (Columbia) - US Pop #202, US R&B #56
• 1987: Start Over (Manhattan) - US R&B #55
• 1989: Whatever It Takes (Virgin) - US R&B #42
• 1995: Good Time (Avex Trax)

Compilation[link]

• 1996: Got to Be Real: The Best of Cheryl Lynn (Columbia)
• 1996: The Real Thing (Sony)
• 1996: Got to Be (Remix) (Avex Trax)

Singles[link]

As featured performer[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Cheryl Lynn at Soul Legends
• Cheryl Lynn at MySpace
• Cheryl Lynn at the Internet Movie Database

B-Real
B-Real at the 2006 Bonnaroo Music Festival.
Background information
Birth name	Louis Freese
Also known as	B-Real
Born	(1970-06-02) June 2, 1970 (age 42)[1]
Origin	South Gate, California
Genres	Hip hop
Instruments	Rapping
Years active	1988–present.[2]
Labels	Columbia Ruffhouse Duckdown Records Goliath
Associated acts	Cypress Hill, Soul Assassins, Psycho Realm, Kush, Everlast, La Coka Nostra, Young De, Slash, Adil Omar, Fergie, House of Pain, Tom Morello, Fear Factory, Deftones, Fredwreck, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Ice Cube

Louis Freese, (born June 2, 1970) better known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper of Cuban and Mexican heritage, and a film and TV actor.^[3] He is best known for being the lead rapper in hip hop group Cypress Hill.

Early life and career[link]

Born to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother, B-Real moved with his sister and mother out of his father's home to South Gate before ending up in South Central Los Angeles.^[3] Before dropping out of Bell High School, he befriended future Cypress Hill members Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace (who forwent staying with the group to go solo).^[3] Sen Dog, who was affiliated with a Bloods gang set known as "Neighborhood Family", later introduced B-Real into the set.^[3] B-Real's career as a drug dealer and gangbanger ended after he was shot in the lung in 1988.^[2]

After being introduced to DJ Muggs by Julio G the KDAY Mixmaster, B-Real and Sen gained interest in Muggs' concept of an album based on experiences from Cypress Ave in South Gate.^[3] The group was signed with Ruffhouse/Columbia records in 1991, and made their influential debut that year. B-Real would use his life-threatening experiences as material for the group's self-titled debut album, and subsequent releases.

Cypress Hill's trademark sound - an eccentric combination of B-Real's exaggeratedly high-pitched nasal vocals and DJ Muggs' distinctive beats - led to the trio becoming the first Latin rap group to have Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums.^[3] They remain the best selling Latin rap group to date.^[4] Speaking in March 2010 to noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis - Deputy Editor of the award-winning Blues & Soul - B-Real stated: "Fortunately I guess the fact we were able to achieve what we achieved, being Latino but without really exploiting that side of it, showed like a whole generation behind us how you could have that success without being labelled as just one THING. Because back in the day, when you were labelled 'a Latino rapper', the record companies would only try to market you to that Latin fan-base which didn't really EXIST yet!... So yeah, it feels good to see people recognizing us as some of the pioneers that opened the doors for a lotta these other Latino rappers to come through."^[5]

Aside from Cypress Hill, B-Real has been involved in several other musical projects. In 1996 he contributed to the soundtrack for the movie Space Jam. In 2002, he teamed up with Mellow Man Ace and Son Doobie for the short-lived Serial Rhyme Killas, which released one 12" single in 2002.^[6] The group recorded a full-length debut album, entitled Deluxe Rapture, but it was never released. B-Real formed a rap metal group, Kush, with Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter and Fear Factory members Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera.^[7][8] According to B-Real, Kush is more aggressive than other bands in the genre.^[8] He was also previously a member of the group The Psycho Realm,^[9] and in 2007 announced that he would collaborate with Sick Jacken once again on a new album.^[2] He recently^[when?] revealed in an interview that he plans on recording a "V.S." album of Cypress member DJ Muggs. In 1998, he appeared as a newborn baby singer for The Rugrats Movie, reported as a minor role.^[10]

Production work[link]

In addition to his career as an MC, B-Real has worked as a music producer for six years, with clients ranging from Proof of D12 to the WWE.^[2] He intentionally kept his production for Cypress Hill down to a minimum, as not to interfere with DJ Muggs' involvement in the group, but has produced several tracks for his own solo projects. B-Real also manages a team of music producers known as the "Audio Hustlaz."^[2] B-Real personally produced three tracks on his solo album Smoke N Mirrors, 'Don't Ya Dare Laugh', 'Fire' and 'Dr. Hyphenstein', looking to outside producers for the other tracks. B-Real and his production crew will be working alongside DJ Muggs and others on the upcoming Cypress Hill album.^[11]

Solo projects[link]

B-Real has released three mixtapes as a solo artist "Gunslinger", "Gunslinger Vol. II" and "Gunslinger Vol. III".^[12] He released his first solo album, entitled Smoke N Mirrors and has teamed up with Snoop Dogg in a single called Vato for Snoop Dogg's album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• 2009: Smoke N Mirrors

Cypress Hill[link]

• 1991: Cypress Hill
• 1993: Black Sunday
• 1995: Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom
• 1996: Unreleased and Revamped
• 1998: Cypress Hill IV
• 2000: Skull & Bones
• 2001: Stoned Raiders
• 2004: Till Death Do Us Part
• 2010: Rise Up

Mixtapes[link]

• 2005: The Gunslinger
• 2006: The Gunslinger Part II: Fist Full of Dollars
• 2007: The Gunslinger Part III: For a Few Dollars More
• 2010: The Harvest Vol. 1: The Mixtape

Collaborations[link]

Throughout his career, B-Real has had an extensive list of collaborations including Kottonmouth Kings, Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg, Psycho Realm, Eminem, Ice Cube, DJ Quik, Pearl Jam, Chino XL, Dr. Dre, Apathy, Mike Shinoda, Malverde, Fear Factory, Nas, KRS One, Adil Omar, Xzibit, Young De, RBX, LL Cool J, Warren G, Busta Rhymes, Tony Touch, Kool G Rap, Big Pun, OutKast, Prozak, Nina Sky, Fat Joe, Method Man & Redman, RZA, Kurupt, D12, Proof, Everlast, House of Pain, Ill Bill, La Coka Nostra, Deftones, MC Ren, King T, Sonic Youth, Funkdoobiest, Bitza (from Romania), Rusko (musician) (from the U.K.) and many more.

Guest appearances[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• B-Real at the Internet Movie Database